SECTION 1.  Section 4 of chapter 51 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 11 of chapter 384 of the acts of 2000, is hereby amended by striking out said section 4 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 4. (a) Registrars, assistant registrars, or boards having similar duties under any general or special law, except in the city of Boston, shall annually in January or February visit or communicate with the residents of each building in their respective cities and towns and, after diligent inquiry, shall make true lists containing, as nearly as they can ascertain, the name, date of birth, occupation, veteran status, nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, and residence on January 1 of the preceding year, and the current year, of each person residing in their respective cities and towns. Said lists and the information contained therein shall not be a matter of public record, provided however, that said lists shall, upon written request, be available for federal, state and local governmental use. A list of all persons under 21 years of age, inclusive, shall be transmitted by the board of registrars to the respective school committee not later than April 1 of each year. The list shall contain the name, residence and age or date of birth of each such person, but said names shall not be disclosed to any person other than the respective school committee or board of trustees of a county agricultural school or their designated representatives. That proportion of any expenses incurred by the registrars under this section, equal to the proportion that the number of persons under 17 years of age bears to the total number of persons listed thereunder, shall be carried as an item in the school committee budget.

(b) In the city of Boston, the registrars, assistant registrars or boards having similar duties under any general or special law, shall annually in January or February visit or communicate with the residents of each building in said city and, after diligent inquiry, shall make true lists containing, as nearly as they can ascertain, the name, date of birth, occupation, veterans status, nationality if not a citizen of the United States, and residence on January 1 of the preceding year and the current year, of each person 17 years of age or older residing in said city. Said lists and the information contained therein shall not be a matter of public record, provided however, that said lists shall, upon written request, be available for federal, state and local governmental use.

(c) In any city or town which communicates with residents by mail for the purposes of obtaining such information, the communication shall state in boldface type on the postcard, envelope and printed material contained in such communication the following statement: "Warning: Failure to respond to this mailing shall result in removal from the active voting list and may result in removal from the voter registrations rolls."  Registrars, assistant registrars or boards in such cities or towns communicating with residents by mail for the purposes of obtaining such information may require a response under the penalties of perjury.

(d) The name and address of any person who provides the registrars with a copy of a court order granting protection, or evidence of residence in a protective shelter, or an affidavit signed by a chief of police or his designee that said person is entitled to have certain information withheld from the public under section 24C of chapter 265, shall not appear on the street list and such names shall not be disclosed to any person. The information collected under this section regarding a person's status as a veteran shall not be a public record and shall only be disclosed to the adjutant general and commissioner of veterans' services.

SECTION 2.  Chapter 51 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 6 in its entirety

SECTION 3.  Chapter 51 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out section out 7 in its entirety.

SECTION 4.  Chapter 51 of the General Laws  is hereby amended by adding to the end of section 11, as so appearing, the following sentence:- Said book and the information contained therein shall not be a matter of public record, provided however, that said book shall, upon written request, be available for federal, state and local governmental use.

SECTION 5.  Chapter 51 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 47C, as so appearing, and inserting in place hereof the following:- Section 47C, Subject to appropriation, the state secretary shall maintain a central registry of voters which shall contain, if provided by the registrars, the names, addresses and effective dates of registration of all registered voters in the commonwealth and which shall contain the name, date of birth, occupation, nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, for street list purposes only, and residence on January first in the preceding year and the current year, of every person in the commonwealth, and shall adopt regulations governing the operation of said central registry. All information contained in said central registry shall not be a matter of public record, provided however, that all such information shall be available to the jury commissioner; that veteran status information shall be available to the adjutant general and the commissioner of veterans' services; and that information regarding the names, addresses, political designations and effective dates of registration of registered voters shall be available to state party committees, statewide candidate committees, state ballot question committees, and any other individual, agency or entity that the state secretary shall designate by regulation consistent with the purposes of this section, at fair and reasonable cost not to exceed the cost of printing or preparing computer readable documents.